Life Through the Eyes of a Magma Grunt
by jubilife
Summary: Everyone has a different point of view. Some people see it as taking over the world, and others see it as surviving. This is a less common point of view. This is life... through the eyes of a Team Magam Grunt, as he forms his own destiny.


"Attention! All Magma grunts report to the main hall!" a voice called over the loudspeaker. Nate just sat there on a torn up white couch, which sagged underneath the weight of his immense structure coughing up clouds of dirt, absorbed in a magazine. He was in the Team Magma base, which was super hot, and looked like it was a volcano with the inside fitted for living conditions, because it was. He was wearing the customary Magma outfit. A red sweatshirt with a hood, with a black M on the chest. His hair was a messy blond, and his eyes were a gentle hazel. Right now, he wasn't wearing his hood.

"Hey, didn't you hear the commander? All grunts report to the main hall!" someone said, ripping the magazine out of his hands. Nate looked at who it was. Steven, his best friend. He was a medium sized guy, with blond hair, but it was neatly combed over. The color perfectly matched his eyes, which were an electric blue. He was, of course, wearing the Team Magma uniform. His hood was on, though, as if he had some sort of important mission.

"What?" Nate asked irately.

"We're supposed to be in the main hall! We are required to meet there, now!" his friend said, equally irate. Nate began fanning himself with his hand.

"Why do we have to wear such heavy sweatshirts if we live in a freakin volcano? Does anyone but me notice how hot it is in here? I can't wait until we can leave on a mission already! Maybe we can go to seaport. Maybe take a visit to the museum," Nate said. Steven rolled his eyes, and grabbed Nate by the arm, and began pulling him.

"Okay, but if we end up having to do something stupid like steal a rare, non-legendary pokemon I'm gonna have to slap you," Nate said. Steven nodded.

"Okay. It's a deal. Just don't make me drag you top that hallway," he said. Nate nodded, and began walking next to his friend.

"So what do you think this is gonna be about?" he asked. Steven shrugged.

"I don't know. I bet it's important, though. After all, they wanted all the standard grunts to come. If you would actually make an effort to care about these things, you'd have been promoted by now! You wouldn't have to do all these stupid missions," he said. Nate just shrugged.

"I honestly don't care. A promotion means nothing to me. All I want to do is get some sleep," he said. Steven looked at him.

"How long has it been since you've slept?" he asked quizzically.

"Hey, I'm new here! Can you help me find the main hall?" someone called to the two boys. They stopped, and looked at where the voice had come from. Some random grunt ran up to them, panting. He had his hood up, and his face was covered by a white mask, with little red streaks running down them. Mike looked at it quizzically.

"I need help finding the main hall. Are you headed that way?" he asked. Steven nodded. The three boys began walking again.

"Is there any history behind that mask of yours?" Steven asked.

"I just like it, I guess. I always wear it when I'm doing things with Team Magma," the other grunt replied.

"I think you look like you're just ready to kill someone," Nate said. Steven laughed.

"Dude, that wasn't funny. It really, really wasn't funny," Nate said to his friend. The other grunt nodded.

"Yeah. It isn't funny. I choose to wear this mask. I guess it's just my personality," he said.

"Please. When you get done here you're gonna realize personality is something that can get you killed here," Nate said jokingly. The other grunt stared at him.

"What? I was just stating the truth. People out there are cruel, especially to someone in an organization like this. I'd be careful, if I were you, or you might not wake up in the morning!" Nate said, laughing. Steven sighed.

"Don't listen to him. Things aren't nearly that bad here. He's just trying to scare you," Steven said reassuringly.

"Yeah, as if that mask isn't scary enough…" Nate muttered.

"Look, there it is," Nate said. The three boys had finally made it to the great hall. The doors were already open. Inside was empty, except for a couple of Magma members sitting at a small grey-colored circular table, having a discussion.

"Oh no, it looks like we missed it," he said. One of the people at the table looked up.

"Ah, we were waiting on you guys! What took you so long?" he asked. His took his hood off, revealing very short cut brown hair. His eyes were a dark brown; they almost looked black.

"Oh, we helped this new guy find the place," Steven said. The guy stood up.

"That doesn't sound like much of an excuse to me. Just because you have an extra person doesn't mean it'll take you fifteen extra minutes to get here," he said. Steven and Nate exchanged a look. The guy spoke up again.

"The name's Mike. For now on, I'm your commanding officer," he said. Again, Nate and Steven exchanged looks.

"And you, take off that mask. You aren't a serial killer," he said. The other grunt hesitated, and pulled it off. His eyes were a light brown, but his hair was still covered by his hood.

"What are your names?" Mike demanded.

"My name is Nate," Nate said, smirking.

"Steven," Steven said, looking at the ground.

"John. I'm sorta new here," the other grunt said. Mike laughed.

"So am I. I just got promoted yesterday. This is Jake, the fifth member of our squad," he said, gesturing towards the person sitting at the table with him. His hood was up, and he was looking at the table, making it impossible to see his face.

"What you guys missed was deciding on the missions," Mike said. Nate gave Steven an 'I told you so' look.

"We're gonna go to the Seaport Mueseum and steal the blue orb!" Mike exclaimed, barely able to contain his excitement.

"What?!" Nate asked in shock.

"Why in the world is the blue orb in the Seaport Mueseum?" he asked. Mike shrugged.

"Maybe they decided to re-locate it to a place with better security," Steven suggested. Again, Mike shrugged.

"We leave in a few minutes. Hope you guys came prepared," he said. All three boys nodded. Mike turned to Jake. The boy nodded his head, without looking up. Mike clapped his hands together loudly.

"Alright then! Follow me kids, we're gonna get on a jet!" he exclaimed. He began walking out of the main hall. All four boys scrambled to follow him. Nate took a look at Jake. There was a scar running right across his eye, which was a faint green.

"Here we are!" Mike said almost immediately. All the kids stopped in front of a small, black, machine shaped like an airplane. All five of them got on. It raised into the air, exiting out of a hole in the ceiling, and began to fly.

"We need to get to Seaport! It isn't that far away! We should be there in no time at all!" Mike yelled at the pilot, over the sound of the winds. He turned to the four boys.

"We need to get that orb! It should be a walk in the park for us! Jake, you go in and grab it! Steven, you cover him if he needs any help! Nate and John stand outside and watch lookout!" he continued, screaming over the sound of the wind.

"We're there!" the pilot yelled. All five of them looked down at the city, or rather, the museum. It was a seemingly small building, and there didn't seem to be very much to it. In fact, the only noticeable thing was the people wearing what looked like blue sailor suits battling the police outside.

"Oh no, not them!" Mike cried. One of them jumped out of a window, threw a pokeball containing a Sharpedo into the nearby ocean, jumped on its back, and began riding to safety, tightly clutching a small bag. The pilot landed the jet on the shore a few miles away.

"Okay, those guys in the funny sailor costumes are Team Aqua. They are not our friends, new guy, so don't even trust them to scratch your back, cuz they'd probably use a knife. Do you understand?" Mike demanded. John, Nate, and Steven all shouted yes. Jake, of course, remained silent.

"But boss-"

"Just call me Mike. I don't want you to ever call me boss or commander or anything like that," Mike said.

"Okay, Mike. What do we do now? I mean, it's pretty clear outside of the place is pretty busy," Steven asked. Mike thought for a moment, rubbing his chin.

"We all go in. We can do no wrong like that, and we will be able to cover each other better," he said. Everyone nodded in unison, and stepped off of the Jet. Nate's shoes sunk into the sand the second they touched it.

"Did we have to land on the beach?" he asked, pulling his leg out of the thick, yellow sand.

"Shut up Nathan! We're in a serious situation right now," Steven barked at him. Nate shut up. When his friend called him by his full name, he was serious. Eventually, the five of them reached the pavement that was the streets of Seaport City. The museum was just a couple of blocks away.

"Okay children, let's run!" Mike called, breaking off into a sprint down the street. The four boys followed. In no time, they were at the museum, and the outside street was still an intense battle between Team Aqua and the Police Force. Jake immediately ran into the battle, shoving aside one of the cops and heading for the Museum.

"Arcanine, use flamethrower on that kid in the red!" he ordered. A jet of searing red flames shot after Jake. The boy looked over his shoulder, fear setting in his light green eyes. Steven jumped in between Jake and the flames, a pokeball in hand.

"Gliscor, use X-Scissor!" he cried as he released his pokemon. A purple, bat-like creature with large foreclaws, wings that seemed to only flap when the pokemon was hovering in mid-air, and a very sharp looking tail appeared in a blaze of red light, and crossed its arms, which began glowing an intense bright blue. The Fang Scorpion slammed the attack into the flamethrower, causing it to shoot straight up into the air.

"Hey, those kids are from Team Magma!" one of the sailors in blue exclaimed. Nate ran up to him, and grabbed him, throwing him to the ground. The guy grabbed him by the leg, and pulled him down with him, rolling over and pinning his shoulders down. Nate kicked him off, stood up, and punted him across the face, knocking a couple of teeth out. Something hard hit him over the back of the head, knocking him down again.

"Hey, cop! Handle this!" Mike screamed at the person who'd hit Nate. A spiraling, red hot vortex of fire came at an exhilarating speed towards his Nate's attacker. He barely managed to roll out of the way. The cop wasn't nearly as lucky, and his body was cooked alive, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air. John grabbed Nate, and began pulling him towards the museum. Within seconds, they were at the door of the building. Steven and Jake soon joined them.

"Hey, where's that Mike guy?" John asked. Nate shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess we should go on and get the orb without him," he said. All four boys nodded, and filed into the Museum. Inside, the walls were covered with paintings. The walls themselves were a dark blue color, and in front of the walls were scarlet ropes, obviously to stop anyone from touching the artwork. There was a door directly across from them. Jake noticed it first, walked up to it, and pulled the handle, which didn't budge.

"It's locked," Steven said. Nate walked up to it.

"That's never stopped us before!" he exclaimed, raising his foot and slamming it against the door. It broke off of its hinges, splintered wood going everywhere, and fell to the ground.

"See? Since when do we follow the basic laws of man? We're Team Magma guys!" he said, walking into the room.

"There it is! That was surprisingly easy," John said, walking up to a glass container in the middle of the room and grabbing it. There was an electric sound, and John drew his hand back, and put it in his mouth.

"Dude, you shoulda known. Gliscor, use X-Scissor to break it up," Steven said, once again releasing his pokemon. It's claws glowed an intense blue, and it slashed the glass case in half with apparent ease. Suddenly, a window shattered nearby. Everyone froze. Everyone except Jake, who picked up a can shaped object with a hole on the top. It began seeping a green smoke-like substance that quickly filled the room.

"Everyone, cover your mouths! Don't breath this stuff!" Nate called, covering his mouth. Everyone obeyed, covering their mouths with their jackets. Everyone except Jake, who ran towards another window and jumped out. Everyone stared after him.

"Well let's follow him!" Steven exclaimed after a second of staring. All three of the boys jumped out of the window after Jake. Nate grabbed the Blue Orb on his way out. Once outside, Mike saw the chaos hadn't stopped outside. Team Aqua was trying to retreat now, and they weren't having much success.

"Hurry up! We've gotta get out of here!" Mike called. A flamethrower flew at him, but he ducked, the jet of flames missing by inches.

"Alright!" Nate called back. All four boys made a mad dash for Mike. Suddenly, Nate tripped, dropping the Blue Orb. Steven picked it up, and kept running. Nate felt a powerful hand lift him up. One of the cops had him, and he ad a firm grip.

"You are under arrest!" he barked. Nate kicked him in the balls, causing him to double over, letting go of him. Seeing his opportunity, he took off running towards Mike and the others. As soon as he reached them, they all began running back towards the beach. Reaching the beach, Mike began screaming at the pilot.

"We've got the Orb! Take off now!" he screamed. All five of them got on board, and seconds later the jet was flying away.

"Members of Teams Aqua and Magma! You are all under arrest!" one of the cops said through a loudspeaker.

"Nate sighed a breath of relief. There was nothing the police could do when they were so high up in the air. He was safe.

He looked out to the open sky. Another jet flew next to them, but this jet was a light blue.

"Alright! If you won't come in peacefully, we are obligated to shoot!" the cop said through the loudspeaker.

"Shit! Hold on guys!" the pilot called. A thin, white missile hit the nearby jet on its fin, causing it to spin out and fall, hitting the ground and exploding into a shower of debris and red flames.

"Shit! Can't this thing go any faster?!" Mike screamed. Suddenly, the jet shook violently, almost making Nate lose his grip on the handle he was gripping on to.

"No! We have to get out of here NOW!" Mike screamed angrily. The jet shook violently again, and began spinning in a circle, just like the other one. Nate couldn't get a clear focus on one image by itself. Every second a new image would appear, disappearing as fast as it appeared. It looked like a pallet of colors, swirling in a circle. A white missile, exactly like the one that took out the other jet, flew at them. Sudden;y, John lost his grip, and flew out of the side door, the missile hitting him directly. Nate didn't even get to see the full explosion, as the jet continued to spin out.

"We're not gonna make it!" the pilot screamed in terror.

"Yes we are! Look, the base is just right there!" Mike cried, half in anguish and half in delight. The jet continued to spin, and began to sink.

"We're losing altitude!" the pilot screamed.

"Hold on everyone, we're not gonna make it!" he cried. The jet was really close to the base now, and Nate could see the landing bay where they needed to land.

"Yes we are!" Mike called, almost happy. Steven's face turned a green color, and he puked out of the jet. Nate could actually tell what he ate for breakfast. Scrambled eggs and toast. That guy barely chewed his food at all. The jet hit a particularly large palm tree, and dropped to the ground, hitting it with a sickening thud. Nobody moved.

"We… we made it!" The pilot exclaimed happily, opening his door and jumping out. Everyone got off.

"Yeah, but now we have to explain why this jet is so messed up, and why we landed out here. You know we'll get chewed out for leaving a sign that there is a base here," Nate said. Mike shrugged.

"At least we're alive. So we'll get yelled at. At least that wasn't our last mission," Mike said. Steven laughed.

"But why was Team Aqua there?" he asked, looking around. Mike thought for a second.

"I have no clue. At least we have the Blue Orb, though," he said. Mike shook his head. He held out the Blue Orb Nate had grabbed at the Museum.

"This isn't the Blue Orb. It's more of a sapphire. Mission failed. I do not wanna have to be the one to tell the boss about this one," he said.

"Well, regardless, we have to tell him everything that happened, and we will accept any punishment he may bestow upon us," the pilot said. Nate sighed. He had never met the boss, and now that he was going to he was probably going to get in a lot of trouble. He dreaded this day.


End file.
